Freezing is a common preservationmethod used among the manufacturers to extend the shelf life of fish balls. However,
detrimental effects such as massive drip loss, textural changes, and loss of functional properties (gelling and water holding
functionality of fish balls) is one of the major problems faced by frozen food manufacturers. The undesirable changes in fish balls that occurred during frozen storage could be minimized by the addition of cryoprotectants (CPAs), which includes
compounds that help to minimize the deleterious changes in foods caused by freezing, thawing, or frozen storage
(MacDonald and Lanier 1991). Several compounds such as low molecular weight sugars, polyols, and carboxylic acids
have been found to be cryoprotective. The most commonly used CPA in surimi industry is sucrose:sorbitol mixture (1:1)
added at a concentration 8 % (w/w). This commercial blend has been shown to exert excellent properties by protecting fish myofibrillar protein during long periods of frozen storage.
However, the addition of sucrose-sorbitol mixture was claimed to impart undesirable sweet taste to surimi-based
products (Yoon and Lee 1990). Hence, alternative sugars which have lower sweetness level such as trehalose and inulin
were used in this study.